El Salvador Big Profits From Bitcoin Investment, President Nayib Bukele Happy

President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. (Cryptobyte)

JAKARTA - El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, celebrated the achievement of Bitcoin history after the price of this largest digital asset exceeded the US$100,000 (IDR 1.6 billion) figure on December 5. Bitcoin's market capitalization is also worth more than US$2 trillion (IDR 32,000 trillion) for the first time.

This achievement is an important moment for the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021. Bukele shared his excitement through social media by showing the country's crypto wallet which now contains Bitcoin worth more than US$603 million (Rp9.65 trillion).

https://t.co/QVvFbQ7woa pic.twitter.com/WiOAYg6Ztx

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 5, 2024

https://t.co/QVvFbQ7woa pic.twitter.com/WiOAYg6Ztx

Since November 2022, El Salvador has started buying one Bitcoin every day, although many doubt this strategy. At that time, the price of Bitcoin was only around $36,000. However, Bitcoin has now shot up to the highest price ever recorded, which is 103,900 US dollars (IDR 1.66 billion).

Based on the latest data, El Salvador has invested around $269 million to buy Bitcoin and is now making an unrealized profit of $333 million. Bukele's courage to adopt Bitcoin as part of the country's economic policy has received praise from various circles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also commented on the post by writing "amazing".

On the other hand, this step cannot be separated from criticism, especially from the IMF warning about the potential risk of the country's dependence on Bitcoin price fluctuations. Even so, Bukele remains firm with its stance to continue to support the use of Bitcoin in El Salvador.

In addition to buying Bitcoin, El Salvador has also developed various crypto-related initiatives, such as the issuance of Bitcoin bonds and the use of geothermal energy to mine Bitcoin. Recently, the country launched a Bitcoin training program designed to train more than 80,000 civil servants. El Salvador hopes to become a center for global crypto education and innovation.